TAGS: Medical K 2019 Part Design & Manufacturing Machinery
ENGEL has split the process of producing housing parts for medical devices using two-component injection molding. The process is cut down to a short cycle time under realistic production conditions and to be showcased at ENGEL’s stand at the K 2019 trade fair to be held in Germany between October 16th and 23rd.
“The key thing with housing parts is the cooling time,” explains Dr. Georg Steinbichler, senior vice president of research and development for technologies at ENGEL AUSTRIA. “Since the wall thickness cannot be decreased for stability reasons, conventional one-component production leaves no opportunity to reduce the cycle time. But in the two-component process, we inject two thin layers, each of which quickly cools. Since both injection molding steps are carried out at the same time, overall production efficiency increases.”
Another advantage of the two-component process is that a sight glass can be added to the opaque housing right as it is being injection molded.
Part Removal from Closed Mold
A Hack Formenbau 8-cavity Vario Spinstack mold on the clean room version of an all-electric e-motion 310H/170W/160 combi injection molding machine is used for this purpose at ENGEL’s stand. This is equipped with a vertical indexing shaft with four positions: the first for injection molding the bodies, using a transparent polypropylene from
Borealis; the second for cooling; the third for applying a second layer of
polypropylene (this time colored green) to the pre-molded parts; and the fourth for a viper 20 speed robot to step in and remove the parts. The linear robot reaches down to remove the eight housing parts from the closed mold, another factor contributing to the extra-short cycle time.
New Software Paving Way for Servoelectric Molds
The two-component precision mold is fully servoelectric in its operation and is the first to use a software program newly developed by ENGEL.
“With the software’s help, it makes no difference to machine operators whether the mold is hydraulically or servoelectrically operated,” says Dr. Gerhard Dimmler, senior vice president of product research and development at ENGEL AUSTRIA. “The user themselves can program the servoelectric movements without the need for additional qualifications. As a result, we’re paving the way for increased use of servoelectric molds. They are more precise in many applications and allow for completely oil-free production when combined with all-electric injection molding machines.”
Source: ENGEL